Hi all;- Al;- I thought I might get some references where I can purchase long stem varieties. Sorry if I wasn't clear with the question. Thank you very much for your well intentions! Primgal36 ;- As Al state Gerbera can be grown from seed. I have tried it with mine that were in the photos and I must be doing something wrong. I can never get any saved seed to germinate. Go figure! Duluthinbloomz4 ;- I brought all of my plants at different home improvement stores many years ago. Lately, I can't seem to find any of them with long stems. I love them as cutting flowers and bringing into the house for a vase. They are so lovely with their wonderful bright colors and make the house feel more homey. Thank You all again for your replies. Have a great day!

I have 2 pots with 3 in each, side by side in a little bench (pots fit down into 2 holes in seat of the bench). Both bloomed beautifully in Spring/Early Summer. Then, (maybe the heat) they stopped. I fed them some 1/2 strength 20-20-20 a couple of times and now one pot is blooming and no sign of buds in the other pot?? What's up with these Gerbera? I found a pastel pink and got some seeds earlier, may try them for next year.

It is in July 2010 now, and I harvested some seeds from pink Gerbera Daisies which are living outdoors in the garden during warmer days and indoors in pots during winter for 3 years. They're known as annual, but when you keep them warm enough they grow like perennial and the flowers keep coming back! When they were transplanted outdoors they were popular among bumble bees and so I could get them pollinated and harvest seeds! I found that not all the seeds from one head of flowers are ripe. Let the head dry on the stalk and become fluffy like that of dandelion puff-ball (not that fluffy though) and search for a bit stouter seeds around the petals. Ripe seeds are rare (maybe around 50th or 100th of total?) but are definitely there if pollinated. And maybe this is why flower shops keep telling us that growing daisy from seeds is near impossible and we'd better get flowers or whole plant from the shop. Germination is really easy. I succeeded in germinating them in a pot filled with quality potting mix, kept moist by spraying water every day, placed by a sunny window, with room temperature around 70-74 F, within a week. Hope there are more people who succeed in growing Gerbera Daisies from seeds! - Ryu

A few years ago NCSU bred a supposed strain of perennial Gerberas. I think they probably used some seed imported from a high-altitude area South Africa to freshen up the genetics of the florist's types. I did manage to keep a couple alive in a winter that went down to 5F or so, but the plants were weak growing at all times of the year. A lot of high altitude South African forbs are just difficult to keep happy on the East Coast. I'm sure this is not the variety you have. The typical bedding gerberas are definitely annuals, and even in places mild enough for them I suspect they eventually die out. They've been so highly bred to me they seem to demand greenhouse conditions to stay happy - very regular watering, fertilization, etc. There is a very beautiful alpine one with green flowers called Gerbera viridiflora. I've never been able to find seed of it.